25/05/2026
Today is not just another day off.
It is not just about grilling food, gathering with friends, or enjoying the start of summer. Those things may happen, but we cannot forget why this day exists in the first place.
As a combat veteran, Memorial Day means something deeper to me. It is personal. I have lost brothers. Men who laughed beside me, fought beside me, and never made it home to their families. Men whose boots no longer hit the ground beside ours. Men whose children grew up without their fathers. Men whose wives, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and friends carry a silence and pain that never fully leaves.
When you have seen sacrifice firsthand, Memorial Day stops being just a date on a calendar. You understand that freedom has a cost. You understand that there are families across this country carrying folded flags instead of holding the hands of the people they love.
Today is about them.
It is about the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us could wake up free every morning. It is about honoring their courage, their service, and the lives they gave for something greater than themselves. But it is also about honoring the families who sacrificed right alongside them. Because when someone dies serving this country, a part of that family is lost too.
To every Gold Star family, to every spouse missing their husband or wife, to every child missing their mother or father, and to every family member carrying that grief, we remember. We honor your loved ones. Their names matter. Their lives mattered. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Memorial Day should remind us to slow down and reflect. To put aside division. To come together as Americans. To stand united in gratitude for those who gave everything so we could have the freedoms we often take for granted.
So today, while we gather with family and friends, let us do it with purpose. Let us remember the fallen. Speak their names. Share their stories. Teach our children what this day truly means.
Because Memorial Day is about honoring sacrifice.It is about remembering heroes.
And it is about making sure they are never forgotten.
